New Year Poker Talk With Faraz Jaka Part 2Faraz Jaka On Big Lessons Learned In 2011 And Major Plans For 2012 |
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Continuing on from part I, Faraz Jaka talks about new year business ventures, entering 2012 in style, and how 2011 taught him some tough life lessons.
The fashion loving, casterboarding pro is currently third in chips at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event with 1.2 million. The American is behind two Canadians; Sam Greenwood and chip leader Phil D’Auteuil. Will this be the big one to kick-start Jaka’s year? 64 players remain, each guaranteed at least $32,500, but Jaka, like many others, has his eyes on the $2 million prize.
Rebecca McAdam: Did you learn anything throughout 2011?
Faraz Jaka: I learn and grow so much every year. This year has been a particularly tough year as you can imagine with the news from Black Friday and money being tied up on Full Tilt Poker etc. In general the tougher the year the more I learn which is why I never let adversity bring me down! I can probably write an entire chapter in a book about what I’ve learned this year but I’ll just pick one:
I reinforced the idea that you can’t get too emotionally invested into any one aspect of your life. This could be your career, your friends, your relationships, or even your physical belongings. I say this because post-Black Friday I noticed how so many poker players were completely beaten down, depressed, and just mentally lost. Luckily I had spread my thoughts, energy, and time commitments over so many different things, anywhere from business ventures to just diversified explorations in life. When Black Friday hit it definitely sucked but if that was all I had going on in my life it would have been a lot more painful.
RM: What are your poker plans for 2012?
FJ: In 2012 I am actually taking my poker schedule which has been for the most part full time over the last three years and turning it into a part-time gig. After Black Friday I went from thinking I was moving to Mexico, then switching to Poland, and finally settling on moving back to Chicago due to a new business venture I started. Well I’m not actually moving back to Chicago but instead of being homeless around the world I will be homeless in Illinois for the next 6-12 months. My new business is in the beverage industry. Me and my partners are making a new sports drink which is going to be my first full time entrepreneurial endeavor where as www.AxisCasterboarding.com is just a part-time role for me as my partners in LA are running it full time.
Between the two start-ups I’m involved with, there’s not much time for poker, but if there is any year to choose to pursue something else it’s definitely 2012 with the temporary ban of online poker. Figure it will take me a good 12-24 months to get my business to a point where I can put more time into poker again, and by then we may very well have online poker back in the US [smiles]. I still do plan on playing a live event about once every month and maybe get in 10 hours a week of live play just to stay sharp.
RM: What are your hopes for the New Year?
FJ: As far as the poker world goes, I just landed a clothing sponsor for all my crazy outfits, www.angelavalencia.com who does men’s custom clothing. She is an amazing fashion consultant and has a ton of beautiful patterns to choose from to custom design outfits. I’m hoping I can spread the word for her and start showing companies outside of poker that poker players are worth sponsoring! I also have a few other non-poker companies I am pitching to I’d love to be able to land one of them for 2012.
RM: Who most impressed you this year in poker or who do you simply think had a fantastic year?
FJ: Honestly I have no idea! In the last nine years I’ve only owned a TV for two of them. I rarely watch poker on TV and don’t really follow it much online. If I bust a tournament I usually stop thinking about it/following it or else I’ll just be wondering why the hell it’s not me at the final table!
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